Andrew Garfield Finally Breaks His Silence About SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Spider-Man: No Way Home continue to soar at the box-office, earning more than $627 million dollars since it’s initial U.S. release, making it one of the top ten earners in domestic history. If you’re one of the few who still haven’t seen it, you might want to turn away right now. Because there are SPOILERS ahead!
Ok. You’ve been warned.
In one of the worst-kept movie secrets of the past year, Spider-Man: No Way Home features not one, but three webslingers, with Spideys of the past, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire both joining Tom Holland to help save the multiverse. During the run up to the film, Garfield did his best to deny he was returning as Peter Parker, but now the actor is finally able to open up about what made him want to come back to the franchise.
In an interview with Variety, Garfield covers a lot of territory — talking about what convinced him to do the film, how he feels about the finished product, what line he improvised, and most importantly for fans who fell in love with his Spidey all over again — that he’s “definitely open” to playing Spider-Man again under the right circumstances. If you’re an Andrew Garfield fan the entire interview is worth a read, but here are some of the highlights:
When asked why he said ‘yes” to No Way Home:
I wasn’t expecting to ever have a conversation again about potentially playing Peter Parker. I felt very excited to just to be a fan again. But I got this call from Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige and Jon Watts with this idea. It was immediately undeniable. It sounded incredibly fun, incredibly spiritual — trippy and thematically interesting. On a base level, as a Spider-Man fan, just the idea of seeing three Spider-Men in the same frame was enough.
The interview reveals screenwriters initially considered bringing back Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone as well, and Garfield was asked what he would have liked to see for his Peter and Gwen. Garfield responded:
Oh my god, I don’t even know where to start with that. It’s too big. Gwen had agency. In our film, on her final day, she shows up. I tried to restrain her from showing up to that scene with Electro [Jamie Foxx]. I knew that it was too dangerous, but she chose to be there. She had a hand in her own destiny in that way, and the movie is about fate. I will say the image of my catching [Zendaya’s] MJ — that was really beautiful and it kind of sold me on the whole thing.
Variety also asked Garfield if he'd be willing to return to the character of Peter Parker. He said:
I mean, yes, definitely open to something if it felt right. Peter and Spider-Man, those characters are all about service, to the greater good and the many. He's a working-class boy from Queens that knows struggle and loss and is deeply empathetic. I would try to borrow Peter Parker's ethical framework in that, if there was an opportunity to step back in and tell more of that story, I would have to feel very sure and certain in myself.
What a lovely answer, and it makes me want to see another Spider-Man installment with Andrew Garfield even more!
Spider-Man: No Way Home stars Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Willem Dafoe, Benedict Cumberbatch, Thomas Haden Church, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, and Jacob Batalon. You can catch it in theaters now.
Marena Bronson is the Editor-in-Chief of Fashion and Fandom and an award-winning journalist. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.